I finally have a client and she wants me to do photos of her kiddos. I know the basic of photography and lighting, but i am also interested in getting an external flash, possible a sb 600. She wants me to take pics of the kids outdoors so do you think the flash is neccessery? I am going to do it during the morning so i can take advantage of nature light.

I have the D40 camera and only the kit lens right now. I am planning on upgrading to a better lens anyways, so which lens do you think is best for portrait photography?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Which lenses come with the kit?

Also - I recommend either REALLLLY early in the AM or around 4 or 5pm in the summer for pics. The only reason you would need an external would be to combat harsh shadows caused by bright sunlight.

Ive been told there are 2 lenses that are fully compatible with the D40. The 18-55 and the 55-200 one. Guy at the camera store told me others will fit on it but the auto focus won't work.

For portraits, depending on whether you want to do up close or further away (and what kind of depth of field you want), you can probably alternate between the two that come with the lens kit... I have an 18-55 and a 70-300. For wedding formals, I use those as well as a 50mm. So far, so good with both of those. I don't think you need to spend a lot of $$ on lenses if you have ones similar to what Rain and I mentioned :D

I mainly use the 55-200mm lens outside just bc i like close ups. I usually don't go out til 6pm or if the day is cloudy, even better, bc then i can go outside at any time :yes

If you don't want to switch out lenses, I'd go for an 18-200 or 300 VR lens.